Kaihi Shōgai: Averted Hindrance
by ghostalker15
Summary: Sarutobi tries to fix his own mistake and ends up training a hyperactive blonde. '"Alright, it's all in your hands now" Sarutobi sighed, sinking back into his chair.' Pairing decided, not posted. Anbu Naruto.
1. Prologue

Kaihi Shōgai: Averted Hindrance

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or plots that Masashi Kishimoto has used. I only own characters I have created and the crazy little plot bunnies that appear in my head.

_~prologue start~_

The Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure sat at his desk, before him multiple piles of paperwork. Yet, he didn't notice the work he had sitting before him, lost in his thoughts as he was. He seemed nostalgic to anyone who might have been looking at his expression, but his thoughts were anything but. In fact, he was rather pensive. Four years had gone by since the incident that had caused the loss of Konoha's beloved Yondaime. Sarutobi Hiruzen still regretted how little he had been able to do for the village. So many lives had been lost, the grief and sorrow from the attack still lingered among Konoha's populace. Not a day had gone by that the Third had wished that he had taken the Yondaime's place in the sealing ritual that saved their village. The Yondaime, Namikaze Minato, had been young and still had many years ahead of him.

Sarutobi's thoughts turned to a yellow haired blue-eyed child. All that had been left of Namikaze Minato and his wife, Uzumaki Kushina. Young Uzumaki Naruto still suffered much of the village's scorn, resentment, and hate, whilst unknowingly shouldering the burden of caging the most powerful Bijuu, the Kyuubi. Sarutobi wondered how Naruto had not lost his sanity.

"_The villagers are most foolish, to not be able to understand the difference between the jailor and the prisoner. I can only hope that once Naruto grows old enough he forgives them for their foolishness. For now though, I must find a way to help him defend himself from these attacks" _thought Sarutobi.

No one knew of Naruto's heritage. If they had, he might've been so spoiled he would've become a pompous stuck-up brat, and they already had enough of those *cough*Uchiha*cough*. Even then Sarutobi had not been sure how and whether or not that would outweigh the Kyuubi sealed within Naruto. In the end, Sarutobi had decided to play it safe and not announce Naruto's heritage. He gave Naruto his mother's maiden name in order to protect him from possible outside assassination attempts. If it were known who Naruto's father was, the results could have triggered another war.

"Inu, report. How is Naruto doing?" asked Sarutobi.

In a flash, a spiky, silver haired shinobi with a dog mask kneeled before the old Hokage.

"He was fine when I left him, yet I am not sure if he should be out there Hokage-sama. Weasel is watching him right now" reported the ANBU, codename Inu (dog).

"That's very good, very good. The damn council is so adamant on not allowing Naruto to live normally, Danzo wants to train him as a weapon, and all the villagers want to kill him, thinking him the demon. If he really was, they wouldn't dare attack him in the first place" Sarutobi sighed.

Hiruzen really wished he could help the boy, but the council had made sure most loopholes were covered. That, however, did not mean that all had been closed. In fact, that was what the old Hokage was trying to figure out, if there were any loopholes that could be exploited.

"If that is all, Hokage-sama, I will take my leave" the ANBU stated.

"Ah yes, sorry for keeping you, I'm sure you'd very much like to get back to reading hmm, Kakashi?" Sarutobi jested.

"ahh…"

Had the ANBU not been wearing his mask, he would've been seen blushing.

"I shall take my leave then, Hokage-sama"

Just as the ANBU was about to leave, Hiruzen spoke.

"Wait, I think I found something I can use to help Naruto. Please bring him to me at once" the old man ordered.

"Hai" the ANBU barked (no pun intended) as he shunshined away to retrieve Naruto.

As the Hokage waited for the ANBU to return, he thought over his plan once again, to make sure it was soundproof.

"_Yes, that will work out just fine, as long as he listens and follows orders" _thought Hiruzen. _"But will he want to take this path?"_

* * *

_-scene change-_

Elsewhere by the academy, a lonely yellow haired boy sat on a swing, swaying forlornly as he wondered why everyone seemed to hate him so much. As he contemplated, there was suddenly a hand on his shoulder and Naruto froze fearing the worst. Instead, an ANBU walked out from behind him, squatted down and waved.

"Hello Naruto, the Hokage wishes to see you" the ANBU said.

"Old man Hokage wants to see me? Alright inu-san! Let's go!"

Kakashi just eye-smiled (even though Naruto couldn't see it) at the child's antics and shunshined both of them to the Hokage Tower.

"Hello, Naruto. Thank you Inu, that will be all" greeted Hiruzen

"Hai" came the terse response.

As Inu left, the Hokage starred thoughtfully at the child standing before him. The child had, before the tender age of four, been the subject of much hatred and scorn. Yet through it all the child had endured and kept a smile on his face. Sarutobi, of course, knew that this was just a mask, that the real Naruto on the inside was hurt so badly that if he didn't get help soon, he would not learn how to express himself, instead of the figurative mask he so often wears.

"_This is mostly my fault, I could've stopped Minato from performing the Death Reaper Seal… Naruto could've had his father…Okay Hiruzen, the past is in the past, let us focus on helping Naruto" _Sarutobi thought.

Naruto looked at the old man that he considered a grandfather and gave him a look. When Sarutobi saw the questioning look he mentally berated himself for spacing out on the youngster.

"Naruto, what would you like to be when you grow up?"

"I want to be a ninja like Inu-san! He looks so cool in that mask and with that sword… I wish I could jump on the roofs like Inu-san and disappear and reappear like Itachi-san!"

"Very good Naruto, but are you sure you want to be a ninja? It's a very difficult job and you could get killed on missions" Sarutobi mused.

"I'm sure old man! Besides… it's not that much different from staying in the village…" Naruto muttered.

Sarutobi visibly cringed at this statement, he had hoped that the villagers would not actually harm Naruto, but inside he had known they would. Hiruzen hoped that what he was about to do would atone for his mistake of allowing the villagers to hurt Naruto. He had checked and made sure while Kakashi went to fetch Naruto. Hiruzen decided that the loophole had not been closed either because the council had thought that he would not go that far, or that if he did that Naruto would be killed in the process. Well he would make sure that Naruto would not die, and that the council would have no idea what Naruto would be doing.

"Naruto, if you really want to be a ninja, I have a suggestion for you. I could start your training early under a few conditions, and you could become as cool as Inu-san" Sarutobi offered. "Hold on, let me get something, Naruto. You think about considering my suggestion."

Sarutobi got up, went over to the bookshelf near the Hokage's safe (the safe can be opened by the Hokage's blood and chakra and only the current Hokage's) and prepared to activate the seal there.

"Please guard the room from the outside, Neko-san, Tori-san" Sarutobi instructed.

As soon as the he could no longer sense the two ANBU in the room, Sarutobi activated the privacy seals to insure that there was no way this conversation between Naruto and himself would be known by the council or Danzo. As soon as the seal was activated, Sarutobi turned to Naruto once again.

"Naruto, I want to ask you if you'd like to join Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai and learn how to be a ninja" Sarutobi finally stated.

"Uh, old man? What's Antusa Zentsu Rokusha Futai?" Naruto asked somewhat coherently.

"Not Antusa Zentsu Rokusha Futai Naruto, Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai. It's what ANBU stands for" Sarutobi corrected. "That is the group Inu-san and Itachi-san are in. _Was it really the best idea for Itachi's ANBU mask to be Itachi?_ They are the elite of the ninja, and they are handpicked by myself and the ANBU commander and are the strongest ninja in the village" he elaborated.

"Really? But, I'm not even a ninja yet… I don't know anything about being a shinobi…" Naruto lamented. Here was his chance to become a cool ninja like Inu-san and he couldn't even take it….

"Actually, Naruto, I wasn't inviting you to join ANBU right away. I am going to be training you for a brief period of time in order for you to deceive the rest of the populace about some things. After I deem that you are ready, I will send you to ANBU to be trained by the captains there. This is just the basics of my suggestion, and if you agree I'll go into more detail" Sarutobi clarified.

"I'll really be able to learn how to be a ninja? THANKS OLD MAN!" Naruto yells as he leaps to give the old man a hug.

"Calm down Naruto" Sarutobi chided laughing. "Since you agreed, there are some things you should know, like why the villagers seem to hate you so much" Sarutobi said as his expression turned grave.

Naruto immediately stopped laughing. Sarutobi could see that the boy's eyes held sadness, yet Naruto was holding it in, trying to keep himself from showing any weakness.

"Naruto, this is an S-classed secret. Only you are freely allowed to tell others of it, though I'm sure you would rather keep it to yourself for now" Sarutobi told Naruto. "The penalty for other people speaking of it, however, is death. If you decide to tell anyone who does not already know, make sure they understand that. Now then, the reason why everyone seems to hate you, is because you are the container of the Kyuubi" Sarutobi paused to allow Naruto time to absorb this information. "I want you to understand Naruto, you are NOT the Kyuubi. You are merely the jailor, yet how everyone else does not understand that is bordering on stupidity. My point is that they do not hate you, but rather what you hold inside of you, and are believe that you are the prisoner you hold rather than yourself. Never let anyone tell you otherwise, never let anyone convince you that you are the Kyuubi"

Naruto had been stunned into silence. Suddenly everything made perfect sense to him. Even if he was four years old, the way the world had treated him had forced him to grow up quickly and learn how to understand things in ways that other four-year-olds would not learn until they were at least nine or ten. As soon as he realized that the old man, no, the Hokage had recognized him, he began to cry because someone had finally acknowledged him. Naruto soon calmed down, and looked Sarutobi straight in the eyes. Sarutobi was confused though; he wondered why Naruto was staring so intently at him. Just as Sarutobi was about to ask Naruto why he had been staring, Naruto spoke.

"Thanks old man, I don't want to be a ninja anymore" Naruto said. Sarutobi gaped at Naruto's statement. He had changed his mind so quickly, but why? "I want to be Hokage instead!" Naruto declared confidently. Sarutobi's expression was that of complete and utter shock. This was better than what he could have hoped for. Finally Sarutobi regained control of himself.

"That's all nice Naruto, but to become Hokage you have to be the strongest ninja in the village, as well as know a great deal about politics, economics, and the like. Are you sure that's what you want?" Sarutobi inquired.

"Yeah, old man, I'm sure! I see how all the people acknowledge and respect you and I want to be just like you!" Naruto stated.

"_So he wants to be acknowledged huh? Definitely makes sense. _Well Naruto, to become Hokage you need to be the strongest in the village, so your actual training will start tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes sir!"

"Oh, and Naruto. There's one more thing I want to mention. No one else knows, but I think you would like to know who your parents are, am I right?" a single nod from Naruto was all Sarutobi needed to continue. "Well, first I want you to promise me that you will not tell a single person until you are at least ANBU captain or elite jōnin you understand Naruto?" a nod of acceptance from Naruto prompted Sarutobi to continue. "Okay, your parents names are Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. Do you know who they are?" Sarutobi asked

"Na-mi-ka-ze Mi-na-to? Why does he sound familiar? Never heard of Uzumaki Kushina though… that's where I got my last name from right old man?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"Namikaze Minato was the Fourth Hokage, Naruto. He's the one who sealed the nine-tailed fox into you" Sarutobi elaborated.

"Wha…. ? But, why? Why me?" Naruto asked frantic for an answer.

"Naruto, if he hadn't sealed the fox into you, the entire village wouldn't be here" Sarutobi reminded Naruto. "I am sure that the villagers are grateful to you for holding back the Kyuubi, but their hatred for the Kyuubi blinds them and shows them that you are it. That is why they take out their anger on you, Konoha lost many people in that attack."

"I… I think I understand old man, but I'm not sure I can accept what my… my… dad did to me…"

"Well, I'm glad you can see things logically, Naruto… I hope that you can one day forgive your father. He and your mother both loved you very dearly. They only wanted the best for you, to watch you grow up, become a ninja…" Sarutobi sighed forlornly.

"It's okay old man… so now what?"

"There are still some more things that need to be said. In order for our plan to work out, I'm going to teach you a special kinjustu, after you master the basics of ninjutsu. So Naruto, what do you know about chakra?"

"Uh… I don't know old man. Aren't we supposed to be learning that in the academy?"

"Yes, Naruto, but as I said before, we are going to be starting early. In order for us to begin your training tomorrow, I need to teach you the theory behind chakra and ninjutsu, as well as the very basics of taijutsu, and possibly some genjutsu. We will definitely need to work on your chakra control though, since the fox's chakra adds to your own pool and makes it harder to do jutsu that need a lot of control" Sarutobi explained slowly.

"Oh… alright then, old man… so what is chakra?" Naruto waited thoughtfully for the answer.

"Jutsu is a "Technique" or "Art". They are the basic fundamentals of the ninja art itself. To perform any Justu, a ninja must learn to control and mix chakra together, the body and the spirit and the mind to manipulate and create the Jutsu. There are 5 elemental types: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water and Lightning. Each requires different amounts of chakra to perform. Jutsu can be divided into 3 main categories: Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Ninjustu. There are side categories like: Fuuinjutsu, Kinjutsu, Hidden jutsu, Kekkei Genkai, Doujutsu, and Kuchiyose no Justu", the aging kage summarized.

"Uh… old man, I only asked what chakra was. I didn't need a whole explanation on jutsus…" Naruto reminded.

The Hokage face-faulted, he had gotten a bit carried away in his little tirade about the ninja arts.

"Well, Naruto, since I explained already, I'll tell you about the exercises you need to begin starting tomorrow. As I said before because of the fox sealed inside you, your chakra reserves are quite high, even now. If you ever want to be able to use genjutsu or medical ninjutsu, your chakra control needs to be at least proficient, if not close to perfect. I…"

*stomach gurgle* "uhh… old man? Can we go get something to eat?" Naruto asked somewhat hesitantly.

The kage just sat there for a second, then gave a quiet chuckle.

"Of course Naruto, where would you like to go eat?"

"Let's go to Ichiraku's!" Naruto cried out. The Hokage had taken Naruto there a couple of times before, and after the first time Naruto had been completely hooked on ramen, though it wasn't as if he could go and buy food anywhere else.

"Okay Naruto, we'll go to Ichiraku's, but we can't talk about this there, we'll have to come back here later to finish talking okay?"

"OKAY!" Naruto readily agreed and was ecstatic about having his favorite meal (again) for lunch. "Let's go!"

* * *

_-scene change-_

After their little lunch excursion, the wizened Hokage decided that instead of discussing chakra control back at the tower, that he could take Naruto to go see some of the more trusted villagers, ones whom he knew would not act against Naruto or did not think he was the fox. He decided that, since Naruto would soon be learning to be a shinobi, he had best learn where to outfit himself and how, as well as what weapons he needed to have a supply of. He decided that Higurashi's shop would be the best choice to take Naruto to.

"_Just because I told him that we weren't going to go start training right away doesn't mean I can't take him to get outfitted… and I think Higurashi-san actually likes Naruto…"_

"Naruto! We're not going to head back to the tower today" Hiruzen said. As Naruto gave him a questioning look, he continued "Instead, we'll go to Higurashi-san's shop, and see what equipment we should get you, since tomorrow you'll start your training!"

"Thanks old man! New stuff? WOOHOO!" Naruto exclaimed as he began jumping around ecstatically. Hiruzen noticed some of the villagers eying Naruto with hatred, but then turn away as they noticed the Hokage's gaze on them. _"Foolish villagers… I wonder what would happen if young Naruto does become Hokage…hopefully I'll be around long enough to see it…"_

"Hey old man, aren't we going to Higurashi-san's shop? I want new stuff!" Naruto exclaimed as he prodded the old man.

Hiruzen chuckled. "Sure Naruto, just follow me and we'll go see Higurashi-san."

* * *

_-scene change-_

*At Higurashi's Weapons*

*bell rings* "Hello sir, how may I help you tod… Hokage-sama?" greeted Higurashi.

Chuckling, Hiruzen replied "Yes Daisuke-kun, it's me. I still remember when you were a young boy running around, shouting about how you'd make the best weapons in the world."

"Ahhh…" Daisuke chuckled embarrassedly. "Oh, who's this hiding behind you, Hokage-sama?"

"No need to be so formal Daisuke-kun. This is young Uzumaki Naruto."

Daisuke just walks up to where Naruto is hiding behind the Hokage, squats down, and stares at him… and stares at him… and then stares some more, while Naruto is slowly being freaked out and edges even further behind the Hokage.

Hiruzen coughs slightly, "Daisuke… I think you're scaring young Naruto" as he smiles amusedly at Daisuke. Slightly embarrassed, Daisuke rubs the back of his neck.

"Whoops, got a little carried away there huh…" As Daisuke talks more with the Hokage, a small head pokes from behind a wall.

"Tou-san? Who's here?" a little girl asks.

"Oh, Ten-ten! This is the Hokage! And the little kid hiding behind him is Uzumaki Naruto!" Daisuke exclaims.

"Hello Hokage-sama, Uzumaki-san" Ten-ten greeted politely.

"HEY! Old man! I'm not a little kid!" Naruto nearly screeched.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING OLD MAN!" roared Daisuke. "I'll have you know I'm only thirty-four!"

"… I'm just four… so to me you're an old man!"

Hiruzen and Daisuke both face-fault, while Ten-ten just giggles quietly. _"I like this Naruto kid… he's funny…"_

"Hey Ten-chan! Don't you think they're both old men? Right Ten-chan? You think so too right?" Naruto pestered.

Ten-Ten blushed a bright red. _"Ten-chan? Does he… like me? Uh… what was he just asking… right! Are they old men… hmm…"_

"Yeah, they are old men!" Ten-ten decided.

Hiruzen and Daisuke both face-fault. "I'm not old!" they both exclaimed.

"No, I'm not! He is!" Daisuke screamed.

"I see how it is… team up on the old man huh…" Hiruzen bows his head.

"SEE? You just admitted it yourself!" they all yelled at him.

"…" Hiruzen had nothing to say to that. "Daisuke-kun, before we discuss how I'm so old any further, I need to talk to you about the why we came here in the first place…?"

At that, Daisuke was all ears. "Yes, Hokage-sama. Is it about outfitting Naruto?"

"Ah, right on the mark Daisuke. You are absolutely correct. So can you outfit him? He'll need kunais, shurikens, pouches and holsters for them for now. We may need more things later though, but for now just the basics."

"Of course, Hokage-sama. I'll have them prepared right away."

"Daisuke… how many times have I told you not to be so formal with me…"

"That would be the… four thousandth and twenty-second time" chuckled Daisuke.

The Hokage just sweat-dropped. " You actually counted?" he asked in slight shock.

"Nah, I just like messing with people's heads!" laughed Daisuke.

While all this was going on, Naruto had went over to Ten-ten and was chatting animatedly with her.

"Hey Ten-chan! What do you do most of the time?" Naruto questioned eagerly.

"Um, I don't do much, really, just learn things from Tou-san and not much else…"

"Ten-chan? Would you… be my friend?" Naruto asked shyly and somewhat hesitantly.

"Your friend? Sure… why not?" Ten-ten decided.

"WOOHOO! I have a new friend!" Naruto shouted right as Daisuke finished gathering up the new equipment for Naruto.

"Hahaha, Naruto is really interesting, isn't he, Daisuke?"

"He sure is, Hiruzen. He sure is... well, if that's all…?"

"Ah yes, of course. Thank you for your help Daisuke. Come Naruto! Let's go." Hiruzen said.

"But old man! I just made a new friend!" Naruto pouted.

Ten-ten giggled and blushed. _"He looks so cute when he pouts!"_

After a brief glaring contest between the Hokage and Naruto, Naruto gives in.

"Fine old man! You win this time, but I swear I will become Hokage one day, and then I shall be the one glaring you down!" Naruto boasted.

"Hai hai Naruto-kun. Now are you coming or not?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yeah I'm coming…" Naruto grumbled. "Bye Ten-chan, Higurashi-san!"

"Bye kid, come back and visit or if you need more stuff!"

"Bye Naruto…kun!" Ten-ten exclaimed.

As Naruto and the Hokage left, Daisuke looked at Ten-ten with a mischievous grin.

"Naruto-KUN, Ten-ten? Does my daughter like someone?" Daisuke laughed

"TOU-SAN!" Ten-ten screeched.

_~prologue fin~_

Author's note:

This is my first fanfic, and so constructive criticism is welcome but no flaming: if you don't like the concept or something, keep it to yourself unless you think it can benefit me as a writer and/or the story as a whole. I promise to consider any suggestions. Some parts of my story may be influenced to other fanfics, but as I don't remember exactly who I took it from, I'll just say thank you to all the people who have inadvertently helped my writing with theirs. Please review!

I also need a beta, so if anyone's interested…

P.S.: School is kind of busy, so no guarantees on timely updates, if people like this story and want me to continue.

I'm not used to the odd formatting that transfers from a word document to have, so bear with me.


	2. Chapter 1: The Academy

Kaihi Shōgai: Averted Hindrance

Disclaimer: Refer to Prologue

_~Chapter 1: The Academy~_

Those just waking up in the early morning were greeted by a familiar sight, one blond haired, blue eyed boy being chased around by some of the village's elite ninja, and was winning. They just shrugged and continued with their morning routines, having seen this multiple times. Meanwhile, the chase continued and was on its sixth pass around the village. The ANBU, by this time, had begun to finally reach the limits of their stamina. The jounin and chunin that had been in pursuit had already broken off from the chase much earlier, not being able to keep up with the stamina monster known as Naruto. As the number of ANBU chasing him began dwindling, he decided it was safe to turn around and taunt them a bit.

"HAHAHA! YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE COPPERS!" Naruto shouted. _"Where did that come from…? Eh. Whatever. Time to make my escape!"_ An evil smile grew on his face as he turned the corner. As the ANBU did the same, they saw nothing but an empty alleyway.

"Damn it, he pulled a fast one again! Split up, we'll try to find him. If you don't catch any trace within the hour, return to base."

A chorus of 'Hai taicho's was heard as the ANBU rushed off in different directions to find the troublemaker. After their exit, Naruto slowly lowered the camouflage sheet for the fence that he had used to hide himself.

"They fell for it again! When will they learn that I'm always right under their noses" Naruto gasped out over his laughter.

"THERE YOU ARE!"

_"Oh crap, HE found me!"_

"Naruto! How many times have I told you not to skip class!" Iruka reprimanded as he grabbed onto Naruto's ear and began dragging him back to the Academy.

"OW owowow sensei! That's my ear!" Naruto whimpered as he felt his ear almost being ripped off.

"It's your own fault for cutting class Naruto, so deal with it!"

* * *

_-scene change-_

Meanwhile, at the Hokage tower, the Third was sitting behind his desk smoking his pipe and reading a little orange book while giggling perversely. Suddenly an ANBU shunshined into the room in a poof of smoke, causing the old leader to sputter, drop his pipe as well as attempt to hide the small orange book that he had been reading. His ANBU noticed, but decided not to comment this time. Instead, he bowed his head and said in a deep voice "Hokage-sama, I am here as you ordered. What is it you need?"

The Hokage quickly composed himself and replied to the ANBU prostrated in front of him.

"Ah, so you're here. Give me a thorough report of what you've found."

"I've met with plenty of Jiraiya-sama's contacts and looked into any leads on Orochimaru's whereabouts, but most of them turned out to be either false or dead-ends. After his abandoning of the organization known as Akatsuki, the trail went cold, then resurfaced with whispers and rumors of his involvement with a new village calling itself the 'Sound Village'.

I followed one of these leads which turned out to be true, and found the Sound village, which isn't a village but more of a collection of underground bases hidden throughout the elemental countries. The lead I had led me straight to the base Orochimaru was currently using at that time, and I managed to find key information on his movements. He seems to be targeting Konoha again, but he plans to strike during the third test in the Chunin exams. It seems like he has an ulterior motive however, and that crushing Konoha is just a side objective. Forgive me, Hokage-sama, but may I add my own thoughts on what he might be planning?"

With a nod from his leader, the ANBU relayed his own opinions on the snake's movements.

"Because it is going to occur during the exams, I think that he will be targeting one of our genin teams that will be entered into the exams. Now taking into consideration what his interests were before he defected, mainly that his goal was to learn all the jutsu in the world, couple that with his known partner-ship with former ANBU captain Uchiha Itachi and his subsequent withdrawal from the group Akatsuki, as well as the Uchiha massacre, and the logical conjecture points to Uchiha Sasuke, last survivor of the Uchiha clan and only possible wielder, besides Hatake Kakashi, of the copy-eye dojutsu the Sharingan, as the target of Orochimaru."

Sarutobi was astounded. He was so shocked he had dropped his pipe and the orange book he had been trying to hide from his ANBU commander. It was times like these that he remembered why he had put this man in charge of the most elite corps of ninja in the village. The man's reasoning capabilities were amazing, and if he wanted to could rival the brain power of the Nara clan or the logical reasoning capabilities of the Aburame.

After Sarutobi finally regained his composure, he sighed and slumped back into his chair. "What do you recommend we do to prepare for this invasion, and if you are correct, attempt to kidnap Uchiha Sasuke?" Sarutobi questioned.

"Let me train the boy, we can insert him as our own agent into Orochimaru's ranks, if he agrees to it. No doubt the snake will mark Sasuke with a seal like the one Mitarashi Anko has, most likely even a more advance version, but I believe I can create a counter seal that will destroy Orochimaru's cursed seal. It will have to wait however, as once he's inserted, he needs to keep character so I suggest a sleeper-agent seal be placed on him. I'll make it as inconspicuous as possible, and place it so that even Orochimaru and Jiraiya-sama wouldn't notice it. I also doubt that Orochimaru would be looking for such a seal on the person he plans to abduct."

"Excellent reasoning, ANBU-san, but we still need to be sure it is Uchiha Sasuke Orochimaru will be targeting, and not someone or something else. I will, however, allow you to begin training the boy. I just wish we could tell him what really happened that night, but perhaps when he is more mature."

"Sarutobi-sama, I fear that Orochimaru may be after your own life, and that he may have Sand's help in doing so. Currently the wind daimyo is sending more missions our way than he is to Sunagakure, and according to Jiraiya-sama's intelligence, Sand's shinobi force has been reduced to an all-time low. The documents I recovered and memorized before returning indicated that Orochimaru will be asking for an alliance between his village and Sunagakure in destroying Konohagakure during the next Chunin exams to be held here. It is extremely likely that even if Orochimaru fails in taking your life, that he will still survive so it is imperative we have our own agent in his ranks, as well as ensure you are far better guarded."

Sarutobi sighed again. He seemed to be doing that a lot, since he promoted the man standing in front of to ANBU and later to ANBU commander. The man had been finding increasing corruption among the council, mainly within the civilian branch, and other worrying things.

"Alright, it's all in your hands now" Sarutobi sighed, sinking back into his chair.

In the academy, one Umino Iruka deposited the trussed up boy turned trouble maker Uzumaki Naruto. As everyone laughed at his misfortune, save for a dark haired brooding boy in the corner of the room, Naruto moved towards the only empty seat left and sat down with a 'harrumph' after being untied by his sensei. As Iruka continued with his lecture, Naruto began feeling the onset of boredom, and decided a little prank was in order to get back at his sensei and rid himself of the accursed boredom. He slinked away quite stealthily, for someone wearing neon orange all over, and set his trap near the whiteboard which everyone was currently and conveniently turned away from. Throughout his years at the academy, the pranks he had been performing had grown more and more elaborate. The current prank he was about to pull had in and of itself one hundred and twenty-one different parts to it. He had set the entire thing up, save the trigger, before he had gone on his merry run being chased by all levels of ninja, and it culminated to the moment his sensei would use the piece of chalk on that board.

As Iruka turned towards the board, his 'Naruto has set up one of his pranks and is really going to get me for earlier' senses began tingling, and he suspiciously grabbed the chalk and slowly began lifting it to the top of the board to begin drawing the diagram he had been describing to his class. As the chalk reached the height of the board, Iruka mentally cringed, but nothing happened. Relieved, he sighed, and as he began drawing and moving further and further to his right, and unbeknownst to him, towards a hidden length of ninja wire, Naruto grew more and more excited. Iruka suddenly tripped on the wire, sent flying headfirst towards the classroom door, which conveniently opened to reveal a red boxing glove with a cream and custard pie somehow attached to it which launched and smacked Iruka, now plus pie, towards the only open window in the class, out onto a waiting trampoline which launched the poor sensei high into the air. As Iruka started falling back towards earth, he noticed the fate that awaited him down below and mentally cursed the blond devil known as the prank-king of Konoha. And then his pain began.

In the classroom, all that was heard were a series of shouts, lots of springs, some splats and increasing amounts of cursing, as well as the occasional yelp of a startled cat. This continued for quite some time, all the while Naruto rolling on the ground roaring with laughter at the misfortune that he had placed his sensei through. An hour later, at the end of class, the entire body of students had sat there gaping at the sounds that were coming from the surrounding village, all the while cringing at the punishment that would most likely be forced upon the still laughing blond. After a few moments, the door slammed into the wall and an unrecognizable blob that resembled a rainbow puddle flopped into the classroom. At this sight, the other students couldn't help but join their colleague on the ground in peals of laughter. Even Sasuke, the most stoic boy, save any Aburame, was gasping for air he was laughing so hard. The Aburame, Shino, was in a similar state as that of the Uchiha, and was rolling on the ground out of breath.

Naruto had finally stopped laughing, and when he noticed that both Sasuke and Shino were on the ground in their laughter, froze, and began quivering in fear. A few seconds later, he screamed, "THAT ISN'T NATURAL!" and ran out the door. Everyone else stopped, save for the two most stoic boys that were currently still laughing. Even the unrecognizable blob of a myriad of colors (Iruka) paused in his self-misery and looked up at the two and almost turned stark white from shock. When the two boys finally regained their composure, they noticed the pervading silence in the classroom, and both turned around to see everyone staring at them.

"What?" they both questioned at the same time in their very stoic voices.

Everyone else screamed the same thing Naruto had just a few moments earlier and ran out the door, save for Iruka who flopped out of the classroom as fast he could. The two lone boys sat there alone for a moment in the now vacant classroom and turned to stare at each other. They both shrugged wondering what everyone's problem was and walked towards their respective homes.

_-next day-_

Iruka opened the door to be greeted by a myriad of faces, but then noticed someone was missing, again, and his smile faltered. Then he noticed everyone was staring out the window in the direction of the Hokage monument. He turned and looked as well, and what he saw shocked him beyond belief. The monument to the village's greatest leaders, was covered in paint. The faces now all held different expressions from the stoic ones they had been carved as. The Shodaime had a giant slap mark painted on his right cheek, the Nidaime a drop of blood beneath his nostrils, both Hokage brothers were turned to face the Sandaime, who had an orange book painted in front of his face, and the Yondaime had his head in his hands as if in shame.

Iruka took all this in, then a second later, took a deep breath, and yelled out one word that could be heard throughout the village. "NARUTO!"

* * *

_-scene change-_

In the village, Naruto heard the shout and snickered quietly. He was once again on the run and knew that soon another would be on his tail, one more capable of catching him than all the others. At this thought, he cringed and realized he'd have double to pay, for yesterday and today, and with that he doubled his speed to try and make sure that would not be so. With his sudden increase in speed, his pursuers fell further behind, cursing at their inability to catch up to the child who was not yet even a genin.

Naruto was running as fast as he could to avoid being caught by his sensei, but as he rounded the corner, he ran into the very person he was attempting to avoid. He got up as quickly as he could and tried to run off in a different direction, just as his teacher grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket.

"No you don't Naruto, not this time!" Iruka shouted so loudly that the Hokage had to stop for a moment to reorient himself. "You're going to pay for messing up the Hokage monument, AND for that prank you pulled on me yesterday!" With that, Iruka began dragging the forlorn child back to the classroom.

* * *

_-scene change-_

Back with the still slightly disoriented Hokage, the ANBU had returned once again. Sarutobi looked amused, angry, and slightly frightened all at the same time. "Quite the ultimate prank, painting the Hokage mountain like that, and yesterday with the one hundred and twenty piece-"

"One hundred and twenty one, Hokage-sama"

"-One hundred and twenty one, piece trap. That is a new record, isn't it, Naruto-kun"

"Hai, Hokage-sama. Last time there were only one hundred pieces to the trap."

"Go ahead and remove your mask, Fox, the privacy seals are activated."

ANBU commander, codename Fox, removed his white mask with a fox face drawn on it and clipped it to his belt. His cerulean eyes sparkled with mirth and mischief at the trouble he had caused. He was tall for his age, far taller than was natural, at 6 feet 3 inches. His hair was long but loose, with locks sticking out on both sides of his head outside his forehead protector. If anyone had walked in, they would have mistaken him for the Yondaime Hokage.

"You can remove your kage-henge too, Naruto."

In a poof of smoke the tall ANBU agent was now much younger, with hair not quite as long as the henge had suggested. He was relieved to be out of his henge, as he was never quite comfortable pretending to be some stoic guardian of the village.

"So, old man, what did you think? I got it all pretty good didn't I" Naruto smirked.

"Did you really have to go and put the orange book up there?" Sarutobi whined, " Now everyone's going to think I'm a pervert! Me! The Hokage!" Sarutobi shook his head in resignation. "What's done is done… I just hope the villagers think it's your pranking nature and that's why the orange book is up there."

"You can hope, old man. But I bet Kakashi-senpai is worshipping the monument right now."

_-somewhere close by-_

A man with gravity defying white hair sneezed, shrugged, then continued to bow down to the awesome (in his opinion) painting of the large orange book in front of Sarutobi's face, all the while praising it and saying he was not worthy.

_-back at the tower-_

"You know, even Tsunade wouldn't take that bet."

Naruto harrumphed and pouted. "It's not my fault I'm so lucky at gambling! I didn't even beat her on purpose!"

Sarutobi chuckled lightly. "Of course you didn't mean to beat her, you're just extremely lucky, just like Minato was."

"Hm, I wonder who would win in a game of cards… me or my old man…"

"Guess we'll never know. Hopefully you won't find out for a while too, it wouldn't be good for you to have gone to the Shinigami's realm this early in life.

"Bah, you forget old man, one of the most important things about shinobi life. Doesn't matter how good you are, there's always someone better out there. But then again I have the luck of the devil. Hehehe…"

"Well, Naruto-kun, when are you going to talk to Sasuke-kun? I thought you were going to train him."

"I'm going to wait until after Kakashi-senpai gives us our test. I'm glad that I decided to have my kage-bunshin stay in his class. So ironic though, that the reason my kage-bunshin didn't graduate early was because it couldn't do the bunshin-no-jutsu."

"That is very funny, Naruto-kun, to have your kage-bunshin pretend to not be able to make bunshins. Though if we hadn't started on your chakra-control as early was we had, you probably really wouldn't have been able to make bunshins, or use genjutsu at all."

"I know old man; the fox just gives me so much chakra that my control is almost horrible anyways. But we got to control first and mine is nearly perfect. Especially with the training technique you gave me. With kage-bunshins, control isn't going to be a problem at all."

"Well, we'll see if your control really is perfect. If you can become a medic-nin, that's all the proof I'll need."

"Who should I seek out, Hokage-sama? If I recall, your other student, Tsunade, is the best medic nin in the elemental nations. Is this task only to deduce the level of my control, or does it also serve the purpose of re-establishing contact with Tsunade?"

"As usual, very perceptive Naruto-kun. It would do Konoha good to have another of the Sannin back. Even though you met her a while back, she's still afraid of what Konoha symbolizes to her, the loss of all her loved ones. Be careful trying to re-establish that connection."

"Don't worry so much Sarutobi-sensei, I did have the Professor teaching me after all, as well as that perverted Sannin my father once called his sensei. If I get lucky, soon I'll have another of the Sannin on my list of mentors."

"That is quite the resume there Naruto. Even learning from just myself and Jiraiya is worthy of recognition, but if you learn from Tsunade as well? The council won't be able to deny you my position. Though to be honest, they should have no say in it at all… perhaps you could try to deal with that covertly when you get back…?"

"Hai, sensei. I'll try my best, but no guarantees. You know how bad the council is. Well, the civilian council. The shinobi half is at least reasonable. You never should have let them have that much power in the first place. If you can the shinobi half of the council on your side, you should have no trouble in abolishing the civilian half. After all, this is a military village."

"Once again, a most logical deduction, Naruto. Hopefully, this will work, but I know for a fact that the civilian council will not give up the power they have easily. If need be, I'll need you to take care of things…"

"Don't worry too much. I'll head out now to go meet with Tsunade. Fox out" Naruto said as he left the room in a flicker of flame, his kage-henge already activated and his mask in place.

* * *

_-scene change-_

Back at the academy, class had just ended, and all the students save for the unfortunate prankster king had left for their homes. Iruka had, after he dismissed the class, dragged the trussed up kage-bunshin of Uzumaki Naruto to the monument that he had defaced earlier that day. Handing the downtrodden boy a bucket and a brush, Iruka walked to the lift by the monument, waving for Naruto to get in, before he noticed Kakashi, who was sitting in a tree next to the monument reading a smaller version of the book that had been painted on the Sandaime's face. Pausing, Iruka called out to Kakashi.

"Hey Kakashi, any particular reason why you're sitting in that tree when there are a whole bunch of benches around that you could sit in?"

"Oh, a flood of black cats passed by earlier, and so I hopped into this tree to wait it out. I guess I got lost in my reading again that when you got here the cats were all gone. That, and it's still a pretty nice day."

"Do you think you're going to be picked to be a jounin-sensei this year?"

"I hope not, I'd think that after failing so many genin teams Hokage-sama would just choose someone else to do it instead."

"Alright well, see you later Kakashi. I've got to make sure Naruto here cleans up his mess."

As Naruto grumbled, Iruka activated the lift and they were taken up to the faces of the four Hokages the village had had so far. Naruto reluctantly began to clean the faces on the monument, albeit extremely slowly for someone with 10 times the stamina of a normal ninja.

After a few hours and hardly one Hokage clean later, the sun had started to set, and Iruka was getting impatient. Deciding to motivate Naruto he questioned him.

"Naruto, you should hurry up or you'll be late getting home."

"Doesn't matter… no one's waiting for me anyways" Naruto mumbled quietly. At the same time Naruto was thinking _"Let's see just how badly everyone hates me… Do you hate me too, Iruka-sensei?"_

Iruka started, and then realized that he had forgotten that Naruto was an orphan. Sure he knew the boy was only a container of the fox, but he still somewhat hated the kid. At the same time though, he realized he might have been a little harsh to someone who lived almost the same life he did when he was younger. After coming to this conclusion, Iruka made a decision, one which he would very much regret later on in the night.

"Naruto, if you finish soon, I'll treat you to some ramen at Ichiraku's."

With the mention of ramen, Naruto acted like he had heard the magic word. He ripped off his jacket and grabbed his brush, moving a thousand times faster than he had before. After an hour, the monument that had not even been one hokage clean after a few hours was now spotless.

* * *

_-scene change-_

Twenty bowls of ramen at Ichiraku's later, Naruto was going for his twenty-first bowl. Sure kage-bunshin normally don't have to eat, but this was no ordinary kage-bunshin. It was one of Naruto's own original techniques that he had derived from an observation on surface tension and other bunshins. But, that's not important right now. What is important though, is that this bunshin lasted far longer than a kage-bunshin, and thus needed some way to replenish its chakra supply. Naruto's bunshin felt guilty for almost eating Iruka bankrupt, but it was necessary because one, he was hungry, and two, it served to help judge Iruka's view of Naruto. He slowed down in his consumption of the twenty-first bowl of ramen, and looked to Iruka, who was still on his first bowl.

"Hey sensei! I have a question for you."

"What is it, do you want another bowl?"

"No sensei, I was wondering if I could see that?" Naruto pointed at Iruka's forehead protector.

"My hitai-ate? I can't let you see that, it's the mark that you're a shinobi of the village. You'll get yours tomorrow after you pass the graduation exam."

Naruto harrumphed, and then got a wicked gleam in his eye.

"More ramen please!"

A loud scream of anguish could be heard all across the village.

_-next day-_

At the academy, all the students had gathered in their classroom to wait for their test to begin. Naruto did not try to do his best, but instead did just enough to barely pass. After their written and most of the practical test, the only obstacle between the academy students and their shiny metal plates on cloths known as hitai-ate was the bunshin test. Known to the rest of the class, Naruto was horrible at bunshins, though in actuality he was quite good, and also quite adept at creating genjutsus. As Naruto was called into the testing room, he noticed Mizuki smirking. Normally Mizuki would be glaring at Naruto as though he could make the boy die an excruciatingly painful death, but today he was all smiles, like a child with a secret. Of course, this left Naruto on edge, and he decided it would be best to flunk this part of the exam in order to discover what Mizuki was up to.

"Alright Naruto, make three bunshin and you'll pass."

As Naruto prepped up to make his bunshin, he noticed Mizuki's grin get wider and wider, to the point where it was about to burst. Then Naruto let loose and made his horribly deformed bunshins appear. Playing the part of the depressed child as Iruka yelled that he had failed, he paid close attention to Mizuki as the teacher 'tried' to get Iruka to pass Naruto. During Mizuki's attempt, Naruto noticed an evil smirk slowly growing on Mizuki's face.

_-outside the academy-_

Naruto sat down on the swing across from the academy in what appeared to be a forlorn and saddened manner. As he pretended to look on in longing at those who had passed, he felt someone approach him from behind and knew it was Mizuki.

"Naruto, I'm sorry you didn't pass. You know, Iruka only has your best interests at heart, you shouldn't be too hard on him for not passing you. But I'm here to let you know that there's an alternative graduation exam that you can take, for bonus points that could make you a genin."

On the outside, Naruto looked like a 6 year old who had done something wrong but was given a chance to fix it. Inwardly Naruto knew that this was a plot of some kind, though he had no idea exactly what it was. He could hazard a guess though, and suspected Mizuki was setting him up to take a fall for something, to frame him. With this conclusion, Naruto only had to wait now, for Mizuki to reveal what it was that he was going to try to frame Naruto for.

"Naruto, this is an infiltration mission. Your objective is to get into the Hokage tower and out, but to confirm that you have done this correctly, I need you to retrieve the Forbidden scroll. Now normally there would be an enormous amount of security, but for the sake of this exercise, the security is extremely low, and the real Forbidden scroll has been replaced by a fake one. There will be a few techniques in there, and to completely confirm you have the right scroll, you must learn one of them. Don't worry, they're all real, simple techniques that are ranked higher than they should be, so just choose one and learn it. I'll be by later to test you and make sure you got the right scroll. We'll meet in the clearing in the forest by a desolate cabin that's southwest from the Hokage tower." He briefly explained all the traps and the patrol schedule for the 'mock' infiltration. "You'll have a few hours to learn the technique, and then I will be there to test you. Do you have any questions?" Outwardly Mizuki was all smiles and kindness, but inwardly he was cackling with glee. Soon the demon brat would be dead, and he would be far away from this accursed village that had squandered his talents on undeserving brats.

Naruto just shook his head no, and with the supposed happiness of having been given a second chance, ran off to complete his given task. Inside he knew that Mizuki should not have that detailed an idea of the patrol routes and the traps protecting the scroll, and knew that Mizuki had to have some outside help, most likely the person he would be turning the scroll over to.

_-in the Hokage tower-_

"Hokage-sama, I've just received word from my bunshin that Mizuki is plotting to take the Forbidden scroll, and frame myself for the crime. I don't know who he plans on handing it off to, but I believe it to be Orochimaru, for who else could have given a chuunin the correct patrol routes and times, as well as the traps that protect the scroll?"

"Very true, Naruto, we should have changed the patrol routes and traps every once in a while. However, as it is now, we do not know for sure if Orochimaru is the one who gave Mizuki this information, so I need you to take him in to the interrogation squad for questioning. I suggest learning a technique you don't already know from the scroll while you are at it. At the same time, this gives your bunshin the chance to make more bunshins without suspicion arising as to how you know such a high ranked technique."

"Hai sensei" and with that, Naruto created a clone and dispelled it to relay the instructions. He then left in a shunshin of lightning.

_-next day-_

"Good work, Naruto-kun, though I had no doubts as to your success. This also rids us of another problem, when Iruka failed you, it would have been difficult as he would've questioned me if I ordered him to allow you to pass."

"Yes, though there were some unforeseen contingencies. Mizuki also saw fit to reveal to me that I hold the Kyuubi, sensei. It actually helped quite a bit, and convinced me of Iruka's character and allows me a known alibi for knowing of my status. Also, with Mizuki's slip up, should he ever escape, he may be killed on sight for breaking that law. After Kakashi-senpai has given met with us and given us the real test, I shall confront Sasuke and explain to him my offer. Though I wonder, should I go as myself, or as the Anbu commander, and then show myself?"

"I think it would be best if you went with the second option, it would cause fewer discrepancies later on and allow him to trust you more. You already know the jutsu to withhold memories, but you need to remember to do your best to mask it in case Orochimaru inspects it later on."

"Hai. By your leave then, Hokage-sama" and with a nod from Hiruzen, Naruto shunshined out leaving behind a trail of dust.

_~Chapter 1 fin~_

Author's note:

Well, hope you enjoyed the first official chapter in my series! Sorry for the long wait, but I've been quite busy and unable to write very much. I will try to have more timely updates, once a month at least, until summer, then I might have the updates out faster. Also, if you have already read the prologue before I posted this chapter, you may want to go back and look at just the very top, I added a disclaimer.

Also, I didn't put in the scene between Naruto, Iruka, and Mizuki, because it's the same as it was in the canon. I'm not going to give away too much of my plot, but in response to What's Your Point and Tobi Fan 321, this is going to be somewhat of a Naruto and Tenten fic, but only a small portion as there will be quite a few twists. In response to Narjiro, yes, I will.

I still need a beta, so contact me if you would like to be my beta for this story! As always, please review, and no flames!

On a side note, if you notice a shift in writing style somewhere in the chapter, that's the long period of time between when I started and when I finished… sorry about that!


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